Convention Central: The Presumptive Nominee & Road to the Convention

Convention Central: The Presumptive Nominee & Road to the Convention

June 7, 2016

The Associated Press broke the news last night that Hillary Clinton has hit the magic 2,843 delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination and become the first woman to run as a party's nominee in history.

Technically, HRC is the "presumptive" nominee because, as the Sanders campaign was quick to point out, she can't claim the nomination until the superdelegates officially vote at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28th.

"It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee's clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer." -- Michael Briggs, Sanders Spokesperson.

How it Works

Pledged Delegates are awarded to each candidate proportionate to their state primary or caucus results, and are bound to vote for the candidate they represent.

Superdelegates, who are distinguished party leaders and elected officials, are not "locked in" to their public pledge to a candidate and may switch when they officially vote at the convention.

Barring an 80+% win in each of tonight's six states, Bernie Sanders cannot overcome HRC in the pledged delegate category, but is campaigning to flip superdelegates to his camp for their convention vote.

Whether his strategy, at this point, is truly targeted toward those votes, or to leverage his influence with a new generation of voters to impact the party platform, it will make for an interesting road to the convention.